My name's Nick Pope and I used to run the British Government's UFO project, Ask Me Anything

Jesse Marcel Jr. has died today. His daughter posted it on facebook earlier. She has control of his facebook page and will be posting funeral
arrangements soon. First Kevin Smith and now Jesse. Jesse was on the Kevin Smith show I think earlier this year.

Jesse was a giant to many of us, a modest man whose father, Major Jesse Marcel, Sr., was the Roswell Army Air Field base Intelligence officer, the
first to reach and examine the Roswell crash debris field, and who was marked by the Pentagon to take the fall when it was announced the following day
that it had only been a crashed weather balloon. Jesse never once backed down in his all-too-credible account of his father's showing him debris from
the crash.

~

Seems every day we lose more and more connections to the past, Rest in Peace Jesse.

Hello Mr Pope. Welcome to ATS, and for being as gracious as to answer questions here.

I have no question as to whether or not there *are* ETs visiting us. My question is, is there something in place, with said ETs, similar to the prime
directive in star trek.
Wherein, the masses are not to know of such other worldly life, as to not upset the status quo, and possible interference with the planets natural
progression.
Technologically speaking, or otherwise.
•﹏•

In relation to the Cosford incident, the MoD was well aware of the re-entry into the atmosphere that night of a Russian rocket, and we duly took
account of that in the official investigation. In relation to a police helicopter, we checked all aerial activity (civil and military) at the times in
question. We were actually in touch with the local police force and no police helicopter was flying. The only apparent source for this dubious claim
was a letter sent years later to the Daily Mail, following a feature on the case. I've actually heard it suggested that this was a completely bogus
claim, made up by a skeptical ufologist dishonestly trying to position himself as an expert on the case.

One of the key witnesses that night did subsequently agree with a leading question that he might have misidentified a police helicopter. But this is
because he became a press officer, and there's an old saying that a press officer - like a journalist - must never become the story! But whatever he
might have suggested to ufologists, in order to kill the story, I was the one who interviewed him the morning after his sighting. To cut a long story
short, personnel with 8 years service in the air force tend not to misreport police helicopters as vast, triangular-shaped craft capable of
accelerating from a slow speed to a speed many times faster than a military jet aircraft in a matter of seconds!

The MoD's 'Project Condign' intelligence assessment of UFOs floated the idea of some sort of unknown atmospheric plasmas with highly unusual
properties, but stopped short of speculating that this was some sort of life form. So we weren't quite suggesting something along the lines of Trevor
James Constable's 'sky critter' theory.

I just wanted to chime in and tell you thank you so very much for taking the time to do this thread. As I'm sure most everyone else is very thankful
as well! I am not sure if it is allowed, but I sent a private message to you as I don't enjoy posting certain things in public view. I hope you can
respond! 👍

1) In your opinion, does the UFO phenomena constitute a concern for the UK government that would justify paying tax dollars for further research, or
has it been ultimately considered a non issue? (If yes, what evidence would you use to explain to the people why they should give their money up for
this subject...as in actual damage done and potential risks)

2) Has there ever been any extensive followups towards sighting areas and supposed contacted people that has revealed any mysterious illnesses or
readings that point to something unexplained (adding some potential credibility)

Originally posted by NickPope
The MoD's 'Project Condign' intelligence assessment of UFOs floated the idea of some sort of unknown atmospheric plasmas with highly unusual
properties, but stopped short of speculating that this was some sort of life form. So we weren't quite suggesting something along the lines of Trevor
James Constable's 'sky critter' theory.

"We" is interesting phraseology. That report, however, is the most interesting--and potentially telling--the public has available I certainly
agree.

It's also interesting to note that while compelling, it's almost a "God of the Gaps" so-to-speak argument against "intelligent control" behind UAP. To
wit: The report itself asserts and seems to basically say, "Admittedly, it sure as bloody-hell looks like intelligent control but, trust us, mate,
it's not."

Further, the report seemingly concurs, "It's all natural plasma and EM effects that defy our total understanding, but we assume it can all be
explained eventually."

Plasma/EM-based life-forms, it seems to me, make more sense than the dichotomies inherent in the report:

To clarify, I wasn't the anonymous author of the Project Condign report, despite a few suggestions to the contrary. Indeed, I've gone on record as
saying that the study was fundamentally flawed in a number of ways. As for my use of the word "we", when I didn't write the report, it's difficult
to get out of the habit, given that I worked for the MoD for 21 years.

Why would they suddenly be too dumb to verify who they were inviting to ATS????

Sigh.

I realize the culture here is to be skeptical that the sun will 'rise' tomorrow.

However, that's NOT REALLY evidence of wisdom.

I assure you . . . as a trained PhD level observer of human behavior . . . the bloke responding as Nick Pope hereon is 100% congruent with the Nick
Pope seen in a long list of videos and many hundreds of pages of text. There's NO distinguishable difference.

Therefore, I have 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% trouble confidently believing HE IS

I can't claim to have any fringe science insights to offer people. I cover the subject from time to time as a broadcaster and journalist, but I've
been out of the MoD since 2006 and I'm a commentator on the subject, as opposed to someone with knowledge of current research or development
programs. When a story breaks, e.g. about invisibility, I'm often asked to comment on why governments look into this sort of thing, and what the
wider defense (or defence!) implications would be.

Sorry if someone has already asked this, I have not read the whole thread. I just want to ask one thing.

There are many reasons that cause me to believe that during the cold war, out of all the espionage that regularly occurred between the USSR and allied
countries, some of it had to do with UFO investigations.

In response to this housekeeping question, yes, it most certainly would be helpful if moderators could occasionally pick up a really good question
that I haven't gotten to, and restate it. I'm trying to get through as many questions as possible, and will be here again on Tuesday, but inevitably
I'm not going to be able to respond to everything. I'll also try to conclude the session with a post that addresses some of the common questions and
themes, so as to draw a few strands together and wrap things up neatly.

With respect, once I've done this AMA, I'm not planning on becoming a regular ATS contributor. I don't generally post on forums, email lists, etc.,
due to the pressure of other commitments.

[color=6699FF]yes, it most certainly would be helpful if moderators could occasionally pick up a really good question that I haven't gotten to,
and restate it

THINKING A BIT FORWARD toward more of these . . . I wonder . . . Springer et al . . . IF the members actively and deliberately starred the questions
they most wanted answered . . . perhaps a software module could be built which would automate compiling the say top XX% most starred questions/posts
minus those already responded to--to present toward the end of such events?

Or, failing that, at least the most starred would be easiest for the mods to quickly identify and copy/paste to a near closing post for last bits of
answering such???

In response to this housekeeping question, yes, it most certainly would be helpful if moderators could occasionally pick up a really good question
that I haven't gotten to, and restate it. I'm trying to get through as many questions as possible, and will be here again on Tuesday, but inevitably
I'm not going to be able to respond to everything. I'll also try to conclude the session with a post that addresses some of the common questions and
themes, so as to draw a few strands together and wrap things up neatly.

With respect, once I've done this AMA, I'm not planning on becoming a regular ATS contributor. I don't generally post on forums, email lists, etc.,
due to the pressure of other commitments.

THX for your kind reply. I'm sure our excellent mods will note the above and do their more or less best.

Much appreciate your perceptivity; rolling with the punches and your candid responses. You are a treasure in the field. It's an honor to correspond in
this way. I'll be out most of tomorrow. Maybe back tomorrow evening. Certainly I'll read the rest of the thread. And I hope your latest book is out on
Kindle, soonish.

A parting question before I head to the shower . . . sort of related but not necessarily . . . to UFO's etc.

What [color=6699FF]has been your greatest experience of AWE and WONDER in your life?

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